Refrigerator Case

ABSTRACT

A refrigerated case ( 20 ) has a base ( 30 ) and a number of supports ( 91, 92, 93 ) extending upward from the base. A number of structural uprights ( 70, 72, 74 ) are coupled to the supports. The rear supports are positioned to permit a back-to-back positioning of pair of such refrigerated cases. When so-positioned, the left end ( 26 ) of each case is substantially aligned with the right end ( 28 ) of the other case and the rear supports of each case are in a nested relationship with the rear supports of the other case.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to refrigerator cases. More particularly, theinvention relates to structural integration of insulated panels in wallsof such cases.

Refrigerator cases (generically including freezers) are used in avariety of commercial situations. One key use is for retail display andvending. Many such cases include a closed rear wall and either an openfront or a glass door front.

Insulation of the compartment of such cases relative to their externalstructure is important for a number of reasons. In addition to basicefficiency concerns, insulation may be appropriate to avoid or controlcondensation on components external to the compartment. This may bemotivated by sanitary considerations in addition to refrigerator caselongevity.

In refrigerator case engineering and manufacturing, modularity has beena relevant consideration. It is advantageous to be able to use at leastsome of the same components when producing a variety of sizes and/orconfigurations of case. Configurations have been developed that includecombinations of external and internal structural components. Thesecomponents can be coupled to each other through insulated panels. Anexemplary configuration is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,826. In thatpatent, one or more insulated panels intervene between external andinternal structural members. Studded dog bone-shaped mounting elementsare embedded within the foam panels with the studs protruding fromsurfaces of the panels. The studs may be engaged to internal andexternal structural members to structurally couple such members.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The external structural members can be somewhat space-consuming.Accordingly, one aspect of the invention involves a refrigerated casehaving a base and a number of supports extending upward from the base. Arefrigeration apparatus is positioned to cool an interior of the case.The rear supports are positioned to permit a back-to-back positioning ofa pair of such refrigerated cases. When so-positioned, the left end ofeach case is substantially aligned with the right end of the other caseand the rear supports of each case are in a nested relationship with therear supports of the other case.

The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth inthe accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features,objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thedescription and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view of a refrigerator case.

FIG. 2 is a partially schematic side sectional view of the case of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a transverse horizontal sectional view of the case of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a back view of the case of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a transverse horizontal sectional view of a group of cases ofFIG. 1.

Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicatelike elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a refrigerator case 20 having a front 22, a back 24, andleft and right ends 26 and 28. For purposes of reference, front, back,left, and right, are taken from the point of view of the case itselfrather than a user facing the case. The case includes a base structure30, a rear wall structure 32, and a top structure 34. The case has acooled interior volume or compartment 36. The exemplary case has aseries of vertical groups of shelves 38. The exemplary case is a closedcase having a sliding or hinged glass door front structure 40 and patchend or partition structures 42 and 44. Partitions are used where casesare arrayed side-by-side; patch ends are used at the two ends of thearray. Alternative cases are open-front.

The exemplary base 30 includes front and back transverse rails 50 and 52for supporting the remainder of the base and, therethrough, theremainder of the case atop a ground/floor surface. The exemplary base 30contains the refrigeration equipment (e.g., an evaporator, and the likeshown schematically as 60 in FIG. 2). The evaporator may be connected toa central compressor and condenser elsewhere in the facility.Alternatively, the case equipment could be self-contained. FIG. 2further schematically shows an air flowpath having a first portion 510carrying cooled air from the equipment 60 to a rear air flowpath sectionor duct 62. A second portion 512 flows upward through the rear duct 62.A third portion 514 flows forward from the top of rear duct 62 through atop duct 64. A fourth portion 516 exits the top duct near the forwardend of the top 34 and is discharged downward along the front 22. Areturn portion 518 is drawn back into the equipment 60 through a grate66 near the forward top portion of the base 30 immediately in front of abase cover member 68.

FIG. 3 shows further details of the rear duct 62. The duct 62 issegmented by a series of interior uprights including a left upright 70,a right upright 72, and a series of intermediate uprights 74. Forwardly,the duct segments are each bounded by an associated duct panel 80 (e.g.,mounted by fasteners 81 to side portions of forward flanges 82 of theadjacent two uprights). As is discussed in further detail below, eachshelf 38 may be mounted to these uprights (e.g., a single width shelfspanning and mounted to exactly two adjacent such uprights via mountingapertures in root portions of the flanges 82). Rearwardly, the ductsegments are collectively bounded by the forward surfaces of panels ofan insulated panel assembly 84. FIG. 2 shows the panel assembly 84 asincluding an upper panel 86 and a lower panel 88.

FIGS. 2 and 3 further show the base 30 as including a series of supportbrackets or braces 90 extending front-to-back spanning the rails 50 and52. Mounted to and extending upward from a rear end portion of eachbrace 90 is a rear external support 91; 92; 93. In the exemplary casethere are a leftmost support 91, a rightmost support 92, and a pluralityof intermediate supports 93. Each support 91; 92; 93 has a lower end 94mounted to the rear end portion 96 of the associated brace 90 and has anupper end 98. As is discussed in further detail below, the panelassembly 84 is sandwiched between the uprights 70, 72, and 74 along thefront and the supports along the rear.

It is advantageous to structurally couple the supports 90 to theuprights 70, 72, and 74 so that the supports can maintain the uprightsvertical against torque and resultant bending associated with thecantilevering of loaded shelves 38. Advantageously, however, thecoupling limits heat transmission from the supports to the uprights orotherwise through the panel assembly 84.

FIG. 3 shows the upper panel 86 as including an insert 100 along a loweredge. The insert 100 is of a relatively rigid polymeric material (e.g.,cellular PVC) between fore and aft face sheets 104 and 106 (e.g.,steel). The panel 86 includes a foam core (e.g., of expandedpolyurethane). Fasteners 110 and 112 respectively secure the uprightsand the braces to the insert 100. The relative rigidity of the insert100 is effective to maintain engagement with the fasteners and transmitforce between the uprights and braces.

FIG. 3 shows the left 70 and right 72 uprights as approximatelyinwardly-open C-sectioned members having a single fastener 110 extendingthrough their rear flanges 120). Exemplary intermediate uprights 74 aregenerally I-sectioned, having a pair of screws 110 extending through arear flange 122 generally on opposite sides of a central web or leg 124.The supports 91; 92; 93 have a generally rearwardly-open C-section andeach have a pair of the screws 112 extending through their centralforward web/leg 126. Other sheet metal screws 127 (FIG. 4) may eachextend into one of the panel face sheets from either the uprights 74 orsupports 92. The exemplary uprights and supports are out of phase witheach other so that each upright is transversely offset from the adjacentsupports (or vice versa). As noted above, the transverse upright spacingmay correspond to a shelf width/pitch. The exemplary uprights, supports,and braces are unitarily formed of a metal such as steel.

FIG. 4 shows the leftmost support 91 positioned a different distancefrom the left end 26 than the rightmost support 92 is from the right end28. This difference, in view of the support side-to-side width, iseffective to permit aligned back-to-back positioning of adjacent cases20 with their supports intermeshed. FIG. 5 shows a group of such casesarrayed in two back-to-back rows 200 and 202. The cases 20 of each row200 and 202 are aligned end-to-end with a small spacing (e.g., 2 cm orless) or contacting. Similarly, the left end of each case 20 is closelyaligned with the right end of the adjacent case in the other row (e.g.,within 2 cm and preferably essentially exact). With the nestingalignment, a vertical centerplane 550 of the group passes through allthe supports of the cases of both rows.

The intermediate supports 93 are also positioned to avoid interferencewith the supports of the adjacent case of the other row. In theexemplary case, this may be achieved by substantially evenly spacing theintermediate supports 93 (FIG. 4) and one of the leftmost and rightmostsupports (e.g., the leftmost support 91 in the example). The other ofthe left and right supports (e.g., the rightmost support 92 in theexample) is at a smaller on-center spacing from the adjacentintermediate support 93. In the exemplary configuration, this support 92is spaced from the associated end 28 by a first distance less than thesupport width. The other support 91 is spaced from its associated end 26by a second distance greater than the support width combined with thefirst distance.

The back-to-back nesting of FIG. 5 can save precious retail floor space.Although the supports of the cases of each row may contact the cases ofthe other row, they may be slightly spaced apart therefrom.Nevertheless, exemplary nesting advantageously provides at least half ofthe space savings that would be achieved if there was such contactrelative to a non-nested arrangement.

One or more embodiments of the present invention have been described.Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Forexample, the foregoing teachings may be applied in the reengineering ofan existing case configuration. In such a reengineering, details of theexisting configuration will influence or dictate details of anyparticular implementation. Accordingly, other embodiments are within thescope of the following claims.

1. A refrigerated case apparatus (20) having a front (22), a back (24),a left end (26), and a right end (28) and comprising: a base (30); aplurality of rear supports (91; 92; 93) extending upward from the base;and a refrigeration apparatus (60) positioned to cool an interior (36)of the case, wherein: the rear supports (91; 92; 93) are positioned topermit a back-to-back positioning of a pair of such case apparatus (20)with the left end (26) of each apparatus (20) substantially aligned withthe right end (28) of the other apparatus (20) and the rear supports(91; 92; 93) of each apparatus (20) in a nested relationship with therear supports (91; 92; 93) of the other apparatus (20).
 2. The apparatusof claim 1 further comprising: a plurality of rear structural uprights(70; 72; 74) coupled to the supports; and at least one insulated panel(86; 88) between the uprights and the supports and secured to theuprights and the supports.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: the rearsupports include a leftmost support (91) a rightmost support (92), and aplurality of intermediate supports (93).
 4. The apparatus of claim 3wherein: the leftmost support (91) is farther from the left end (26)than the rightmost support (92) is from the right end (28).
 5. Theapparatus of claim 4 wherein: the plurality of intermediate supports(93) comprises 35 such intermediate supports evenly spaced.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 4 wherein: the plurality of intermediate supports(93) comprises 35 such intermediate supports evenly spaced along withthe leftmost support at a first on-center spacing, a second oncenterspacing between the rightmost support (92) and an adjacent one of theintermediate supports (93) being smaller.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1having: a length between the left end (26) and the right end (28) of1.5-4.0 m; and a height of 1.6-2.5 m.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1wherein: at least some of the supports have a rearwardly-open channelcross-section.
 9. A method for assembling a group of refrigerator caseapparatus (20) according to claim 1 comprising: positioning a first ofsaid apparatus (20) back-to-back with a second of said apparatus (20)with the left end (26) of each apparatus (20) substantially aligned withthe right end (28) of the other apparatus (20) and the rear supports(91; 92; 93) of each apparatus (20) in a nested relationship with therear supports (91; 92; 93) of the other apparatus (20).
 10. The methodof claim 9 wherein said group comprises two rows, each of at least twoof said apparatus (20) end-to-end.
 11. The method of claim 9 whereinsaid group comprises two rows, each of at least two of said apparatus(20) end-to-end, with an end-to-end spacing of less than 2 cm, saidalignment also being within 2 cm.